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Monday, 21 April 2014

Fair Dinkum Seeds

Are you interested in growing plants that are a little out of the ordinary but haven't been able to find a supplier to purchase seeds from? Well, your wait is over as I have just learned about a young couple who have started up a seed supply business called Fair Dinkum Seeds!

Firstly, let me tell you how I found out about their business. When I was out the other day and waiting for someone, I checked my phone to see if there were any comments on my blog which needed to be moderated as, if I want the comment to be published, I have to click on Publish or if it looks a bit dodgy I mark it as Spam as anyone with a Blogger blog would know. Most bloggers would also know that there are a number of spammers out there who say wonderful things about a blog post and then ask you to click on a link to their business.

However, when you are clicking on a tiny screen on a Smartphone without your glasses on then it can get a bit 'iffy' so when I read a message on my phone about someone's business and the word spam was mentioned in the message, I thought I had better wait until I got home to read it properly on the computer as it's much too much trouble to find one's glasses in one's bag and put them on, isn't it? Go on, admit it...you do the same!

When I got home and read the message I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was fair dinkum as it was from Leigh Nankervis from Fair Dinkum Seeds who very nicely asked if I would like to exchange some seeds for getting word out about the business he and his wife own. I would have been happy to promote this young couple's business without anything in return but when I had a look at the website and saw what seeds they have available, I thought I would take him up on his offer (Thanks Leigh)!

As I said, I am always keen to promote small businesses owners, especially when they work hard like this couple does, so read about them in the About Us section of their website. For the overseas readers, yes.... that is a kangaroo with the chooks in the top photo and it gives you an idea of some of the wildlife in the bush that they have to protect their plants from.

....and this cool 'Chuzzle' Cucumber which is described as spiky looking but soft and flexible like velcro. These are eaten when they are green and small as, when they grow bigger and turn yellow, they become very bitter. Leigh and his wife use the yellow ones for stopping the rabbits and bettongs from ring-barking their seedling fruit
trees in the dry times. They squeeze a heap just like oranges, strain
the juice, add 2 cups of water for every cup of juice, and just paint it on
with a paintbrush. Apparently that puts
an immediate stop to all chewing by mammals and even some insects.

We have the red poppy growing and you may have read my post last Remembrance Day about my brother who had given me the seeds over twenty years ago and died on Remembrance Day nearly eight years ago so this poppy holds special significance for me.

Then there is the Shoofly plant. Here is the description from the Fair Dinkum Seed website:

It’s the
basis of literally thousands of insecticidal and repellent products over the
years and it’s the main idea that's behind those automated cans of spray you
see above doors of Public Toilets, Restaurants, Commercial Kitchens, Stables,
Meat processing plants, Fertilizer plants, Prawn farms, anywhere with an odour
that flies would be attracted to, and even in some homes these days. They stole
the idea from nature, synthetically recreated the chemical components, added a
fragrance and wacked it in a can.

So, if you are interested in buying what look to me like good quality seeds grown by a couple of young battlers trying to get their business up and running then check out what they have on sale. Postage within Australia is included in the quoted cost and international postage is an extra $4.50 flat rate. You can read all about postage issues here.

Thanks so much for leaving your comments as I love to hear from my readers. As soon as I check them they will be published. If for some reason you have trouble leaving a comment feel free to email me directly by filling out the 'Contact Me' form on the sidebar at the right.